The Mech Touch

6918  X-ERC Luminar Crystals

The Defiled Light Project was ambitious, but it did not require a lot of work in order to complete.

This was because Ves and Harry Kaikkonen borrowed a large amount of design solutions from past projects.

It was not entirely inaccurate to characterize the luminar crystal blaster as a short-ranged version of the Instrument of Vengeance.

However, it was a mistake to assume that it behaved exactly like the legendary luminar crystal rifle with a shortened stock and much shorter barrel.

Aside from the predictable absence of resonating materials and components designed to enhance the long-ranged precision of the energy weapon, the scale of the overall weapon was much greater.

Ves' current phasewater cultivation allowed him to become three times taller than a typical mech.

That did not necessarily mean he could easily wield weapons that were three times larger and more massive, but he was able to conduct personal experiments on himself in order to determine the optimal weight and dimensions of his luminar crystal blaster.

He just ordered the delivery of a large amount of rectangular metal bars with handles and carried them with one arm or two arms.

This was enough to quickly determine the target size and dimensions of the luminar crystal weapon.

"At your scale, this weapon tends to be on the smaller side." Harry Kaikkonen said. "The barrel is shorter than preferred and the stock also does not offer too much room for components. The Good news is that the scale of the entire weapon is large enough that we can still install plenty of functional components to maintain an acceptable degree of power and stability. Compared to the Instrument of Vengeance, it can still output a considerable amount of burst damage. If you are willing to increase the size of the weapon by 20 percent, then I can significantly increase the firing rate while still maintaining stability."

"That will not be necessary, Harry." Ves shook his head. "As I said before, I want this weapon to be suitable for hit-and-run attacks. It needs to charge up and unleash a devastating shot at the right time. It doesn't matter if it takes a lot longer to charge back up to full power because I will be making sure to stay out of harm's way as best as possible. You know as well as I do that high burst damage is preferable to sustained light attacks when it comes to penetrating the defenses of the native aliens. I don't mind if I have to wait longer to get ready to launch another attack. In fact, a weapon that fires more frequently may even be a trap that can give me the delusion that I can dogfight my enemies."

Harry slowly nodded. He understood what his superior was implying.

If Ves was armed with a weapon that could fire frequently, then he would feel tempted to stay in engagement range and constantly focus on attacking. As a mech designer, it was difficult for him to stop pulling the trigger because he was trained to consider that to be a lost opportunity.

Mech designers often tried to increase the efficiency of their work by any means possible!

This was not always the right solution when it came to actual combat. There were many different variables at play. Sometimes, the right solution was to withhold action and wait for better opportunities.

Since Ves was not a trained soldier who became proficient in spotting those opportunities, he decided to artificially limit the offensive capabilities of his firearm so that it left him no choice but to fight as he originally intended!

A mech armed with a marksman rifle would always try to snipe enemies at a longer distance. It would never be stupid enough to get close and enter into a dogfight against an enemy unit.

Likewise, a mech armed with a submachine gun should not maintain its distance from the enemy for the duration of the entire battle. Once it was time for such a machine to confront the enemy, it would seek to get closer in order to compensate for its lack of accuracy.

Ves deliberately avoided the decision to turn his weapon into a versatile firearm like the Irvan wielded by the Minerva.

Saint Commander Casella Ingvar was proficient in marksmanship, and needed the ability to launch direct attacks at multiple distances.

This was why Ves granted her Minerva a transformable firearm.

The Irvan performed like a marksman rifle for long-ranged striking capabilities, but could also be turned into submachine gun for self-defense at closer distances.

If Ves wanted to, he could apply a similar template to his Defiled Light Project, but he refused to make the weapon versatile.

By specializing the weapon for a single purpose, he not only constrained himself from doing anything stupid, but also became assured that it would do its sole job extremely well.

"I would like to share two proposals with you, sir." The Larkinson Clan's recently designated luminar crystal weapon specialist said. "We are years away from developing superdimensional luminar crystals, but that does not make superdimensional matter useless. We can still use it to reinforce its internal structure and plate the exterior for additional protection. It would be good if we have hull-grade superdimensional matter to spare. We can even add a superdimensional bayonet if you need to attack your enemies but do not have the time to switch to another weapon."

Ves thought for a moment. This was a good way to increase the toughness and reliability of the weapon. He would not have to be afraid of rough handling.

The downside was that reinforcing the luminar crystal blaster would either increase its size and mass, or require a reduction in the size of functional components.

Stll, he did not want to wield a weak firearm that would break if it got struck by a Saint Piercer arm or other penetrating attack.

"Your first proposal is acceptable. Let's adjust the draft design so we have a better idea of what we are working towards. Don't worry about material usage. Our use of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional matter is restricted, but we still have a good reserve of hull-grade superdimensional matter. What else?"

"Well, as a phase lord, it is expected that you will continue to grow in size in the future." Harry Kaikkonen said next. "I am not sure when or by how much you will grow, but it is best to assume it will happen sooner or later. Since this is the case, the weapon should be designed with variable scale in mind from the beginning. The luminar crystal blaster must be designed in a way that retains its relevance and usefulness even if you have grown several times larger."

Ves frowned. "That is difficult to ensure unless we resort to smart metal. I already intend to do that for my own Carmine 'mech', but it is impossible to apply the same treatment to luminar crystal weapons. This tech is based on solid and immutable crystals. Nanomachines simply cannot replicate them. We can only switch to less powerful energy weapons that can be reproduced with smart metal if we want to develop a weapon with a variable scale."

Harry shook his head. "It is not necessary for us to immediately resort to smart metal, sir. We can instead rely on a semi-modular luminar crystal weapon that is designed from the grown up to shift in size and replace smaller crystals with larger and more powerful substitutes. Let me show you what I have in mind."

He began to sketch out a very basic draft design of a weapon that fit his description.

Ves soon became more enthusiastic as he understood what Harry had in mind.

"This is actually a much more practical idea than I initially thought! While the mechanical structure adds a lot of complexity and vulnerability to the weapon frame, the ability to quickly change its dimensions and swap out parts makes up for it. While it is bound to become a rather maintenance-heavy device, that is no problem for a mech designer like myself."

Harry's proposal was to design a weapon that was defined by a mechanical structure that naturally accommodated change and growth on the onset.

It reminded Ves a lot of the Chiron and War Squire lines of training mechs.

They were designed to mimic the growing physiques of many possible teenagers.

The length of their limbs and other parts could dynamically be adjusted as the mech cadets became affected by growth spurts and grew increasingly taller.

Harry simply applied a similar approach to the luminar crystal weapon, making it so that Ves or anyone else could easily increase the scale of the weapon through combining a shifting weapon frame and swappable semi-modular components.

It was like designing a weapon that was inherently meant to be redesigned and rebuilt again and again.

To be honest, it was not completely necessary for Ves to go through all of this trouble. As a mech designer who upgraded many existing mechs, he was proficient in reinventing and reimagining his products.

However, it would take a lot of time and effort for him to manually redesign larger versions of his luminar crystal weapon.

He could save himself a lot of redundant work by taking this demand into account at the beginning of the weapon project.

The downside was that it not only increased the complexity of the design, but also introduced a lot of mechanical vulnerabilities.

However, this was why choosing to use superdimensional alloy as reinforcing material was such a good idea. Its toughness and resistance towards adverse effects effectively mitigated this downside!

"Great!" Ves grinned and lightly clapped Harry's back. "This is an excellent combination of ideas. Let's go through with it. I don't mind if it will take a little longer to complete the project. It is worth it if I can continue to make use of it after I have grown in size after a fast and convenient rework. It will also make it easier for us to convert the old crystals with cutting-edge superdimensional crystals a few years later. By the way, you don't need to add a bayonet to the design."

"Are you sure, sir?"

Ves grinned. "If my suspicions are correct, transforming the luminar crystal weapon into a D-arm will automatically solve this problem, hehe."

The pair continued to flesh out the design and configuration of their ambitious project. It took a lot of extra work to include the latest design specifications, but it was more than worth it for both mech designers.

Harry soon presented Ves with another question.

"Do you remember my specialization, sir? Well, I have managed to develop new advancements in my ERC luminar crystal weapon technology. It is only a minor technological breakthrough, but I am able to present you with two different design choices."

"Oh? What have you come up with, this time?"

The energy weapon specialist activated a new projection that showed off two different ERC luminar crystals.

He gestured towards one of them. "This is the product that you are familiar with. It is the type of crystal that I have incorporated in the Instrument of Vengeance. It can convert any strong emotion into different effects, ranging from a straightforward increase in firepower to negating E energy effects. While this has significantly improved the power and versatility of my luminar crystal weapons, it has also made it much more difficult for mech pilots to control their damage output, as they actively need to manage their emotions during eventful engagements. For example, if mech pilots feel sad about the loss of their comrades, their damage output may decrease by as much as 50 percent."

"That sounds… really bad."

"The problem is not insurmountable for trained and disciplined mech pilots." Harry said. "However, the complaints that I have gathered from the users of the recently released Bright Warrior Mark IV and Valkyrie Redeemer Mark IV has opened my eyes to how much of a burden it is to force mech pilots to regulate their emotions during highly charged moments on the battlefield. This is why I have recently developed a variation of ERC luminar crystal weapons that are only attuned to a single specific emotion."

He gestured to the second projected crystal.

"In order to distinguish them from each other, my original products have been relabeled as U-ERC for short, while my new products will be called X-ERC for emotionally reactive charged luminar crystals that are attuned to an indeterminate emotion. An ERC luminar crystal that is attuned to anger should be referred to as an A-ERC luminar crystal for example."

"I see. You should give me a list of all of the X-ERC luminar crystal variations. I need to understand all of the options."

"Here you go, sir."

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